Kiltwalk Dundee - the big day

 

The end (people in front walking for Guide Dogs, hence the ears)

After a few months of talking the talk, yesterday it was finally time for the 20-mile Dundee Kiltwalk. The forecast was sunshine so it was on with the suncream, plenty of water in the bottles and hats most definitely packed (I've done some of this walk before with a friend and quite a lot of it is shadeless). This is the map:

Daughter and I had booked places on the bus out to the start at St Andrews, partly because I was interested to get the atmosphere in the build-up to the event. These kiltwalks have been on in different parts of Scotland for a few years now and are very popular (this year was Dundee's biggest with well over 4000 people taking part). Not usually one for large public gatherings (I'm not great in crowds), I do like walking and that area in particular so I decided to brave the hordes for a change. The buses were very well organised and full and we set off at 8.30am as planned. There was lots of excited chatter on board, quite a lot of groups of work colleagues by the sounds of it, and it was a lovely smooth trip over the bridge and into Fife.

Crossing the tinted Tay about 8.30 am

Once off the bus it was the first portaloo visit (no photos) and then into the start line area (loud Proclaimers, as expected, bagpipes and a very excited man on the microphone shouting about big men, wee men, basically all the men). It was overcast at this point and quite a long build-up (they stagger the starts to spread out the walkers) but it was ok, not too squashed up or unpleasant. I mean, look at this cheerful daughter at the start:

Laughing daughter

Start line, waiting for countdown

Then off we went (at about 9.25am), past the famous golf course and onto the path along the road towards Guardbridge and Leuchars. Pretty soon the clouds disappeared and the sun was with us for the rest of the day. Some views along this section:

That golf course

Peaceful fields

A few more of these to go...

Over the river Eden

Heading up to the first pitstop in Guardbridge

So far so good. People were walking faster than I expected on the whole - were they all after beating personal bests (not really our thing)? Did they just want to get it all over with? Maybe they just wanted to get to the portaloos quickly, I have no idea. When the path got narrow this meant it wasn't the most relaxing experience here and there but it was still ok - friendly and cheerful and lots of interesting t-shirts for different charities. Some people even had handwritten signs about who they were walking for - people who had died - and that was very moving. Although we were walking for Turner Syndrome Support Society this year we had also considered walking for a Pancreatic Cancer charity in memory of our friend Phyl who died at the end of 2024. I think every time we saw one of those signs, or even the cancer charity t-shirts (and there were a lot of them), we thought of Phyl and how much she loved the great outdoors.

After Guardbridge we felt we needed a lift so we decided to give the playlist a go and had a lot of fun skipping about to Wicked songs and such on our way through Leuchars. It was well worth getting that bluetooth splitter thing and we used it on the day a lot more than I thought we would (so don't worry, no one else had to hear our musical choices). As expected, sometimes the tunes did make us walk a bit faster than was necessarily wise on such a warm day and we had to take a slow track to recover. For some reason the track of the day (and in fact the whole season) was Raye's Worth It. Something about the lightness of that track picked us right up every time. I think I even did a twirl at one point.

Other than that I wouldn't say this second chunk was the most fun section of the walk. Sections of narrow path and a lot of walkers turned this into something of a march and when that happened you couldn't really stop, even if you wanted to (most photos were taken whilst moving, I had to straighten a few of them up later on). It was a bit like being part of a tartan snake at times as we wound our way towards the trees. There was very little shade once out of Leuchars but luckily no clouds of little flies as happened the previous time I'd walked this section in 2015. Views on the section from Guardbridge and into Tentsmuir:

Daughter with headphones most definitely on

Heading towards Tentsmuir

Just keep moving

After this open stretch it was quite a long walk through the forest to the next pitstop. There is a lovely beach along the forest here (Kinshaldy beach) and I'd hoped we might catch sight of it at least (maybe even veer off for a paddle if we fancied and weren't bothered about personal best times) but we didn't get near enough to even see it on this route (and it was such a beautiful day!). I can understand why they keep this large group of people on track and away from what was probably quite a busy beach and carpark but still, it did seem a shame. Anyone who didn't know the area might never know what delights were waiting on the other side of the trees. 

Through Tentsmuir forest

Just before the second pitstop we were quite pleased to get to the halfway mark:

Ten miles to go

The second pitstop was not a highlight - this was lunchtime for most but there wasn't much space to sit and have whatever you'd brought to eat, also sponsor's water and snack supplies were low at the tables, there were some very full bins and no view of anything much so we ate quickly, used the portaloos and moved on. Plus they were blaring bloody Coldplay out of a loudspeaker - it's almost like they didn't want us to hang about.

Second pitstop

The next bit of path was a track full of little stones so not the most comfortable walk - we dealt with this by putting the headphones back on and having as much fun as we could. Orla dancing in the Derry Girls last episode has given us a love for that Dario G track that I never thought I'd have so that was a good one for some of this quite long, hot bit of the path (again, last time I did this I took the beach option, highly recommended if you can walk on sand). Trees were lovely though of course (who doesn't love a tree?).

Heathers

The view

Eventually we were through most of the forest and could see the river, some lonelier trees, Tayport ahead and Dundee over the water.

Nearly at Tayport

Dundee in the distance

Non-stop sun got us to the penultimate (and nicest) pitstop in Tayport. It had space to spread out, plenty of snacks, even bubbles in the air. There was also someone dressed up as something like Darth Vader, not sure what that was about. He must have been warm.

Tayport pitstop

Ominous welcome

With the river Tay constantly in sight, it was a lovely stretch through Tayport and towards the road bridge. It was still hot but we had more varied views and everyone seemed in a good mood. One local was sprinkling us with cool water from their hose as we went by (very welcome). Pics below from Tayport to the bridge - it's a lovely walk and we should do it more often.

There was a final pitstop at the bridge but we had the end in sight so ploughed straight on.

Fife end of Tay Road Bridge walkway

Happy to have made it to the bridge, not far now

Crossing the Tay for the second time that day

Then it was down to Slessor Gardens to cross the finish line, get the medal and free meal (really not bad, I had the veggie chilli), be met by our number one supporter and collapse. Daughter doesn't consider herself sporty but did really well and didn't seem tired at all at the end. She also didn't faint (happens sometimes in extreme heat) so that was a bonus too. I felt about 1000 years old by the end but feel fine today so I must be fitter than I felt at teatime yesterday. 

The end

You can still donate to our Just Giving page here if you haven't already. We are at about £750* at time of writing and would love to make it up to £1000 for the Turner Syndrome Support Society (a small charity run by dedicated people). Beyond that, thanks for following this prep and trek. Cheers!

*Now up to £855 £885 £915 £933 £963 £983 £993 ...

**Made it to £1003 (and still climbing)! Thanks everyone.

Kiltwalk Dundee - prep 4

 

Lud Castle, Arbroath Cliff Trail

Daughter and I have been doing more Kiltwalk practice in and around Dundee recently (including another walk out to Broughty Ferry from the centre of Dundee) but this weekend we headed north for a Saturday morning mini adventure. We caught a bus up to Arbroath first thing and did a walk I haven't done for years - the Arbroath Cliff Trail. This walk starts at Arbroath and ends at the beautiful village of Auchmithie, the place we lived when we first moved to Scotland in 2002 (more about that back as part of this 2021 blog project). This is the map of the approx. 4 mile walk we did today:

First we had a little look around Arbroath, a place we knew very well 2002-04, and then purchased some provisions before we walked along the edge of Victoria Park to get to the start of the cliff walk. I don't normally put pics of myself online these days but here's one of the two of us at the start:

As you will see we use music to help us along our walks (Kiltwalk playlist constantly under construction). Current faves are Karine Polwart's Scottish Songbook, Self Esteem, Rhiannon Giddens, Raye, Ce Ce Peniston and a bit of Wicked. The only drawback is sometimes it makes us walk too fast - this may not be wise when it comes to the 20-mile walk in August.

There were lots of gorgeous views as we made our way along the cliff walk today (and it was perfect walking conditions, not too hot, a bit of breeze). We saw sand martins, a heron and, as you'll see, lots of wildflowers all around. A few walkers (and one cyclist) but pretty quiet on the whole:

The Needle's Eye

The Deil's Heid

The Three Sisters

We'd been told in the toon that the path around Carlingheugh Bay was in bad condition and overgrown and that's obviously still the case as a detour is in place:

Instead it was steep steps down to the beach, a wobble along the pebbles, a picnic on a log then more pebbles, an overgrown path (just ferns, nothing prickly), up more steep steps and back to the path. This means that the trail, not hugely accessible at the best of times, is really not open to all just now. It does have a musically themed art piece at the top of the steps (apparently it's 'The Lord of the Dance' and no one knows who made it). This is its second location as it was moved from the first because it was too near the edge of the cliffs (news story here):

Carlingheugh Bay

Picnic views (this and above)

Spot the heron

After that the path was very easy the rest of the way to Auchmithie, mainly just us, more flowers and the sea.

In our sitting room we have a lovely painting of the Coastguard Cottages in Auchmithie done by our artist friend Steph Masterson. This is it:

So today we enjoyed viewing the Coasties from the other direction (they are on the far right of this pic):

Finally it was past Lud Castle (looks like a whale to me):

and then off to see the Coasties artist in Auchmithie (and her visiting Mum) for tea, cakes and stories. It's a good excuse for some trips out and about this Kiltwalk business. 

You can still sponsor us for the walk in August if you feel so inclined - link here. 

Kiltwalk Dundee - prep 2 and 3

 

   Somewhere between Stranraer and Cairnryan

Our walking preparation for Kiltwalk Dundee in August continues and this time with some wandering out west. The man and I stopped off in Dumfries and Galloway on our way back from friends and family time in Yorkshire and whilst he looked at boats (SkiffieWorlds - see here) I dragged myself along the coast a bit on Monday morning. It was just me as daughter was working back in Dundee. I didn't have any maps but you can see the endpoint clearly on the other side of the Loch so I quickly screenshotted some instructions just in case and set off after breakfast.

It was a very windy day - so windy that the boating was cancelled for the day, filling the cafés of Stranraer with a positive rainbow of sporty hoodies and people looking at weather forecasts (the event lasts a week and I'm pleased to report that the weather was more cooperative from Tuesday onwards). People of all ages enjoy coastal rowing in St Ayles skiffs (it's huge in Scotland - read about the type of boats here) and so it was a mixed crowd and a great selection of other events put on by the organisers. On the Sunday night we had already nipped down to see the music and bar (and the views):

View from the bar, Sun evening

View from Stranraer beach, Sun evening

But back to walking. On Monday morning I walked along the edge of Loch Ryan towards Cairnryan and could see (and feel) why there was no rowing that day. The winds were quite fierce and the waves were crashing against the end of the Loch.

It is a beautiful part of the world overall but like a lot of coastal places it has its share of empty buildings. A new Water Sports Hub is in development so maybe old sites like this one that I passed at the end of the Loch will get new life before too long:

A lot of the walk went along the beach:

Looking back towards Stranraer

And then, once you're past the caravan park, the signs send you off into very green fields:

I didn't see any other walkers the whole way but I did pass some scaredy sheep:

And a whole lotta swans (according to sources a group of swans on water can be a bevy, a bank, a herd or a flock). I'm not a fan of any bird up close that is pigeon-size or bigger so meeting them at this distance was more than enough:

The route I took is meant to be part of a path network (Loch Ryan Coastal Path, part of the Mull of Galloway Trail) but it's pretty unkempt in places and I did wish I'd brought a machete at times. I had also failed to spot the bright red warning about a damaged bridge on page 1 of the online guide:

They were not wrong - one of the little foot bridges is damaged but luckily someone had hooked some branches to climb along. I was very glad at this point that I had not dragged the daughter along this route. I have a bit of a history with the family of setting off on 'short walks' that end up being daylong adventures ("it's just round the corner", "not far now" etc.) so as I awkwardly clambered about, was scratched and stung by nettles and had a few investigations ("where is the path?", "will I have to climb over the ferry port fence?") I was glad it was just me on this little hike (about 5.5 miles).

Eventually I did get to the ferry port (luckily no high fence climbing involved) but I didn't fancy returning by the same route so what to do? 

Cairnryan ferry port

Google said there wasn't a bus for 2 hours but luckily the 11.17 was about 10 mins late so I managed to catch it back. It's always slightly humiliating when the bus manages to do in the flash of an eye what took you most of the morning but there we go, the wonders of the modern world.

The next day the rowing finally got started (and it's still going, last race about teatime on Sat 12th July). We watched some races and enjoyed the Wimbledon-style screens on the hill and the great atmosphere. Teams were mainly from Scotland, Ireland, the Netherlands and a few from England but some came from further afield too. 

SkiffieWorlds on Day 1

Road up the coast from Stranraer to Ayr

After that we headed back up the road to Dundee. It has been very hot here the last few days and daughter and I did an afternoon walk in Dundee yesterday and baked (it was too hot for photos, we did 4.5 miles or so). We now have a bluetooth splitter so can listen to the same music without inflicting it on anyone else and incorporate jazzhands and elaborate dance moves into our walk. So if you see 2 women on a red-faced silent disco around town that's us. We are over halfway to our target of £1000 for our Kiltwalk now so if you want to sponsor us there is still time - link here. Just about a month to go till the big day...